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| Belgium 500 Francs 100 Belgas banknote |
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| 500 FRANCS |
Belgian banknotes, Belgian paper money, Belgian bank notes, Belgium banknotes, Belgium paper money, Belgium bank notes.
Obverse: Oval shape with scene of allegorical women's figures and cherubs.
Reverse: Allegorical figures and coats of arms of the nine provinces on oval shape. The banknote face value is printed in words and with the numerical indication of the denomination - 500 Francs 100 Belgas.
Watermark: 500 FRANCS.
Prevailing colour - Green and dark blue on light blue background; Format 88 x 137 mm
Graphic artist - H. Hendrickx; Engravers - A. Doms.
Signatures: Governor - Albert Goffin (signed notes 16/07/1941 - 16/09/1944), Treasurer - Henri Sontag (signed notes 28/10/1936 - 15/03/1947).
Belga
At the start of the First World War the convertibility of banknotes into precious metal was suspended. In October 1914 the mark became legal tender and flooded the Belgian economy. By the end of the war an enormous amount of Reichsmarks was in circulation. With regard to their exchange in Belgian francs, the government maintained the overvalued exchange rate which had been laid down by the occupier. In this way wartime inflation was extended into the peacetime economy. As a result, consumption prices went up and the franc devalued. In the years thereafter, the government kept nursing hopes that the franc would regain its prewar value. In reality however, the franc kept losing its value in proportion to the most important postwar currencies, i.e. the pound sterling and the US dollar.
In October 1926 the Jaspar government, and especially minister E. Francqui, developed a stabilising programme for the Belgian franc. Its value was reduced to one seventh of its former goldparity. Thanks to this measure the franc regained its convertibility and the government debt was consolidated. The introduction of the belga as a new unit of account was also part of the stabilising programme. From this time onwards, all exchange operations had to be realised in belgas in order to differentiate this new currency clearly from the French franc. In 1925 Belgium had withdrawn from the Latin Monetary Union, and this meant of course a clear monetary rift with France.
In 1926 one belga was worth 5 goldfrancs. The belga was mentioned on the banknotes of the National Bank of Belgium and the Treasury from 1927 onwards. In 1930 the Royal Mint struck a 5 francs - 1 belga nickel piece and in the same year a 10 francs - 2 belgas nickel coin was engraved with the portrait of the first three Belgian kings, to celebrate the centenary of the Belgian independence. One year later, the series was completed by a 20 francs - 4 belgas piece, which was unfavourably received and was returned in large quantities.
Finally, in 1933, when prices had become fairly stable, a new silver coin – a 20 francs piece of low fineness – was issued, this time without indicating the value in belgas. In fact, the belga was never widely accepted, not even on the exchange markets. By habit and for convenience’s sake the Belgians continued to calculate in francs and never wanted to use the new name. Hence it was no surprise that the belga disappeared inconspicuously in 1946.